Shel Trapp (1935 – October 18, 2010) was a community organizer based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, co-founder of

National People's Action People's Action is a national progressive advocacy and political organization in the United States made up of 40 organizations in 30 states. The group's stated goal is to "build the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban ...

(along with

Gale Cincotta Gale Cincotta (December 28, 1929 – August 15, 2001), a community activist from the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, led the national fight for the US federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) of 1975 and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) ...

), and author of several books and pamphlets on

community organizing Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...

. Trapp and Cincotta are widely credited with writing the

Community Reinvestment Act The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA, P.L. 95-128, 91 Stat. 1147, title VIII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to hel ...

(CRA). Trapp has also been responsible for training hundreds of community organizers throughout the United States through the

National Training and Information Center People's Action is a national progressive advocacy and political organization in the United States made up of 40 organizations in 30 states. The group's stated goal is to "build the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban ...

. He retired in 2000 and died of pneumonia in October 2010.

References

Bibliography

*John Koval, Larry Bennett, Michael Bennett, and Fassil Demissie, '' The New Chicago: A Social and Cultural Analysis'' (Temple University Press, 2006). *

Rinku Sen Rinku Sen is an Indian-American author, activist, political strategist and the executive director of Narrative Initiative. She is also the co-president of the Women’s March Board of Directors. Sen is the former president and executive director ...

and Kim Klein, ''Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy'' (Jossey-Bass, 2003). * David Walls, ''The Activist's Almanac: The Concerned Citizen's Guide to the Leading Advocacy Organizations in America'' (Simon & Schuster/Fireside, 1993).

Pamphlets by Trapp

*''Basics of Organizing''. Chicago: National Training and Information Center, 1986. *''Blessed Be the Fighters: Reflections on Organizing . . . Collected Essays''. Chicago: National Training and Information Center, 1986. *''Dynamics of Organizing''. Chicago: National Training and Information Center, 1976.

External links

Video interview with Shel Trapp about his beginnings in organizingNPA websiteVideo interview with Shel Trapp on the origins of the "bank-in"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trapp, Shel American community activists 1935 births 2010 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Illinois